Surrogate's Sacrifice
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: So I read a crazy theory about how Rory is actually pregnant with Luke and Lorelai's child - as a surrogate - at the end of A Year in the Life. No one else seemed to have broached that possibility for this fandom, so I took it upon myself to cover it. This one is very emotional. Please, enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Volunteered as Tribute

**Chapter 1: Volunteered as Tribute**

Lorelai Gilmore sat in her kitchen clutching a steaming mug of coffee, her head in her hands. Her brain was all but dead, only able to repeat those four little words that had turned her life upside down all over again.

 _"Mom?"_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"I'm pregnant."_

Rory's declaration had sent her into a stupor. Lorelai could only now vaguely remember running from the gazebo. A part of her was still wondering how the hell she had gotten back to her house. Her thoughts, or should I say lack of them, were interrupted (stimulated?) by her husband, Luke Danes, coming into the kitchen and sitting across from her. He took her hand. Looking up into his eyes, Lorelai observed the grin that the love of her life let few people see - the grin that betrayed his gruff exterior. The smile was tender, full of wisdom, almost brotherly.

"She'll be home. And when she does, we will work this out as a family."

As if on cue, the front door creaked as it opened. Footsteps came down the foyer. At last, a puffy-eyed Rory appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. Luke and Lorelai gazed at her silently, somberly. Finally, Luke spoke:

"All right, princess. Who do I have to kill?"

Rory blinked. "Kill?"

"Yes, kill! I'm gonna kill whoever did this to you! I want a name; give me a name!"

Rory actually smiled. She thought it was adorable how Luke was ready to tear people limb from limb to protect her when she wasn't even his child. Though to be fair, she remembered her mother telling her once, long ago, that Luke laid some claim on, some credit for, Rory - if not in blood, then in most other aspects of her life. At last, she spoke:

"I never took you to be the suicidal type, Luke."

"Suicidal?" Luke frowned. "That little punk who knocked you up might wanna start wishing he was suicidal, but not me! I'm gonna kill him!"

Rory shrugged. "Then your job's easy. You're just gonna have to kill yourself."

Lorelai looked between her daughter and her husband, thoroughly confused. "What are you on about, Loinfruit?" she asked Rory.

"You had to use _that_ nickname?" Luke grumbled.

"I'm saying Luke is going to have to kill himself, if he's so hot and bothered, because it's his baby."

Silence. Luke looked sick, choking on his throat. "What?"

Lorelai, however, seemed to be remembering something. She knew that Luke would _never_... not in a million years…. but there was still another way...

Then it hit her like a ton of bricks.

"No!" she croaked. "Rory, you didn't!"

"But I did, and that's the end of it."

"How? Why?"

"I met up with Paris for lunch one day at Chilton, and she mentioned that you and Luke were discussing surrogacy. That you both had donated your..." her voice trailed off. "So, I volunteered."

"Wait a minute; let's put this tape into rewind!" Luke jumped in at last. "You're saying you volunteered to be your mom's and my _surrogate_?" He now looked to Lorelai. "I thought you said we were tabling that!"

"I did!" Lorelai gasped, concerned that he was getting so angry.

"Tabling means no, right? We changed our mind after donating..." His voice trailed off.

"No. Tabling means we are putting it on the back burner but are still considering it!"

"Impossible, because I don't speak Gilmore!"

"Well, then, get a thesaurus, buddy! As of a few weeks ago, you _are_ a Gilmore!"

But Luke was now pivoting. "And even if your mom and I had been clearer in our communication," he emphasized while sending a look to Lorelai. "Why, young lady -" and here he faced Rory "- would you not discuss this with us first?"

"I wanted to surprise you!" Rory explained, sounding close to tears. "I... I wanted to give this to you! For... raising me, and... being there for me..." She broke down. Seeing her cry, Luke quickly tried to do damage control. He took his daughter in his arms, ignoring Lorelai's snide mutter of "Nice going."

"I wanted to... it's a gift... I..." Rory's crying turned her into an incoherent mess. "Please don't be mad."

Luke and Lorelai looked at each other, the tension deflating from each of them.

"Oh, sweetie..."

"We're not mad," Luke assured her, even though he had clearly blown up in the kitchen moments ago. "I think... I think your intentions are..." He suddenly found himself choking up, something the diner owner prided himself on rarely doing. "Beautiful. Just beautiful." He stepped out of the embrace to find both his wife and his stepdaughter just as teary. Tentatively, he stretched out a hand. Rory got his meaning and smiled through her tears.

"Yeah, it's OK. Go ahead!"

Luke placed a hand on Rory's abdomen, where he now knew a baby - his and Lorelai's baby - nestled within. Now overcome with thankfulness and love, Luke knelt at Rory's feet and kissed her stomach.

"I love you," he got out. Whether it was directed at his stepdaughter or the fetus she carried was left unclear. Though perhaps it need not be clarified. For, in this emotionally charged moment, Luke was surely thanking both.


	2. Chapter 2: Luke Pulls an Anakin

**Chapter 2: Luke Pulls an Anakin**

 _The surroundings were hazy. Through the mist, only one thing stood in clear and sharp relief: Rory's face, overcome with tears. She now cried out in pain._

 _"Ahhhhh! Daddy! Please! Help me!"_

 _Another voice cut through the mist: "Don't give up now, Rory..." Underneath the cacophany came the wails of an infant..._

* * *

The vision was sucked into oblivion, as Luke Danes sat bolt upright in bed. He was panting hard, as if he had been running. Sweat pored down his face and bare chest.

As soon as his breathing calmed somewhat, Luke swung both legs out of the bed he and Lorelai shared. He put his head in his hands, trying to banish the last vestiges of the horror he had envisioned. At last, he shakily rose, grabbing for the first article of clothing he found: a Yale jumper; Rory had gifted it to him at her graduation. Aside from his classic flannel shirts, as well as an MIT Tee-top from his daughter, April, Luke wore this jumper often, and he wore it proudly.

Lorelai did not stir or even wake as Luke padded out of their bedroom. But someone else did notice his exit. Leaving the bathroom, Rory noticed her stepfather shuffle down the hall and down the stairs. Curious, she followed.

She found him in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in hand, staring stoically out the window into the quiet night. "Luke?"

No response. Rory tried again to reach her stepfather. "What's bothering you?"

"It was a dream," was all Luke could disclose.

"Bad?"

"Like the ones I used to have about my father, just after he died."

The conversation lulled into silence. "And?" Rory prodded.

Luke slowly turned to look her in the face properly. "And it was about you."

 _Me?_ Rory thought it bewilderment. _Not Mom? Surely he'd be more worried about Mom?_

"Tell me," Rory said gently.

Luke sighed heavily. "You died in childbirth."

Rory gasped, her hand instinctively going to her abdomen - a habit that had increased more and more lately. "And the baby?"

A prolonged silence. Luke finally shook his head. "I don't know." Another pause and he waved his concerns away. "It was only a dream," but even his voice sounded as though he was unconvinced.

Rory smiled and kissed his cheek. "Of course. This baby and I will be healthy. And you are going to make an _amazing_ dad. I know because you were to me."

Luke and Rory hugged, just enjoying each other's soothing presence in the wee hours of the morning.


	3. Chapter 3: Cut Down

**Chapter 3: Cut Down**

Luke and Lorelai spent months preparing Rory for the birth. So much so, that by the time the big day arrived, the couple had it down to a science.

Rory was home alone at Number 37 Maple Street when her water broke. She immediately dialed the number on the phone already in her hand, calling her stepfather's diner. Luke left immediately, picking up Lorelai at the Dragonfly Inn enroute. They reached Rory within minutes, trying to pretend that they had not driven and re-driven this plan on multiple occasions. Luke had even timed it with a stopwatch.

Luke and Lorelai then drove Rory to the Stars Hollow Hospital and passed her off to the doctors, who wheeled their daughter away on a gurney. After that, it was out of their hands.

While waiting, Luke called his nephew, Jess Mariano. The young man happened to be negotiating a book deal in nearby New Haven, but he promised to get away as soon as he could. A few hours later, Jess arrived, and just as he did, the doctors came out to the waiting room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Danes? Your daughter is responding well to the treatment. She is dilating fine, and should be starting to push soon. You may come back now."

Luke and Lorelai started to head back. Jess made to follow his aunt and uncle, but the doctor stopped him. "I'm sorry. Immediate family only."

"But I'm her cousin….."

"Step-cousin," Luke corrected over his shoulder. Jess looked like he wanted to fight the doctors, so the diner owner quickly defused the situation. "Jess, if you could wait out here and call Lorelai's parents, that would actually be a big help. You have their number?"

Jess let go of the tension in his body and nodded. Luke smiled. "Good man."

When Luke and Lorelai arrived back in the delivery room, Rory was straining and groaning and screaming. The doctors were calm and professional even when the parents were worried, and encouraged both Luke and Lorelai to stay and watch as the medical team worked. Human contact, they claimed would be helpful to Rory during the birth. All either Luke or Lorelai could do was sit on either side of their daughter, holding Rory's hand and looking grim.

"Ahhhhh! God! OHHHH!" Rory let out the most heartbreaking wails of pain, tears streaming down her face, as the doctors finally delivered the baby. The screams of an infant soon could be heard through the haze. Luke bit his lip in worry. Was childbirth supposed to be this….. stressful? He thought about asking Lorelai to recall her memories having Rory, but figured it was not the right time.

"It's a boy," one of the doctors announced, holding up Luke and Lorelai's son.

Rory's eyes seemed flighty, out of focus, as she searched for the voice and for the baby she had just given birth to. "Luke…" she whispered, and her stepfather leaned forward, listening. But Rory did not seem to be referring to him. She instead was gazing at the infant whom had finally arrived in her line of vision. Reaching out a hand, Rory brushed a hand across the baby's still-sticky face. In that moment, Luke burst into tears, for it dawned on him that Rory had just named his son after him. Though she was only the birth mother, he did not mind Rory's taking the initiative. And, he was certain, neither would Lorelai.

Suddenly, the monitors hooked up to Rory began to beep frantically. Luke watched in horror, as his stepfather suddenly began to convulse. She was having a seizure!

"Mr. and Mrs. Danes, you're going to have to leave!" the doctors began pushing Luke and Lorelai towards the door.

Horrible as the sight was, however, the couple fought back this time, refusing to leave. The only compromise was for Rory's bed to have the curtains drawn, and for the parents to sequester in a corner of the delivery room. After a time, a doctor approached Luke and Lorelai.

"She has come out of the seizure and regained consciousness. But she is very weak. Would you like to see her?"

Luke and Lorelai raced behind the curtain. Luke clasped Rory's hand.

"You gave your mom and I a baby, princess! Your little brother needs you. Hang on!"

But Rory only shook her head. "I can't," she groaned weakly. "Luke….. your son will be a great kid. I know….. he….. will….." Her head flopped onto the pillow, and she moved no more.

All was silent for a few minutes. Rory did not wake up. She didn't even move. Finally a doctor laid a hand on Lorelai's shoulder.

"I'm sorry…"

"NO!" Lorelai shrieked. "You can't say it! YOU CAN'T!"

At this moment, Jess burst into the delivery room, having snuck his way out of the waiting room.

"Rory's grandparents are on their way….." He stopped when he saw his beloved step-cousin's still form. "What's wrong? She's not…..?"

Luke could only nod. "She is." He stood to embrace his nephew. "I'm real sorry, boy."

But Jess jerked away, hot tears pooling his eyes as his anger grew. "No, you're lying. She's not even dead! You're lying!" In anguished rage, he hurled his phone into the corner of the room so that it broke, before bolting out of the delivery room.

"Jess!" Lorelai could only call after him, before collapsing with sobs into Luke's arms.

Luke tried to console his wife, but his mind was in a fog. Passing her off to one of the doctors, he staggered from the room and into the empty, quiet hallway. The stillness, almost mocking him, was shattered by Luke's agonizing scream of grief.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"


	4. Chapter 4: Thirsting for Blood

**Chapter 4: Thirsting for Blood**

The funeral was rainy and cold and brutal. The whole of Stars Hollow, along with Richard and Emily Gilmore, came out to pay homage to their town's beloved princess, cut down in her prime. An open casket was allowed, giving everyone the chance to pass by one by one and pay their respects.

A writer at heart, Jess gave a moving eulogy that brought everyone to tears. Lorelai could not be comforted, her head buried into Luke's shoulder throughout the service. Luke had tears streaming down his face, mixing with the rain. Rory's biological father, Christopher Hayden, sat almost in shock.

When it came time for the family to say goodbye, Jess kissed his cousin's forehead, then lips. Luke clutched Rory's body close, allowing himself to come apart completely. He then had to prop Lorelai up as she kissed her daughter goodbye, before helping their son – Luke Jr. – to wave farewell.

The peace was barely held together, for Rory's sake. But as soon as she was lowered into the ground, all hell broke loose. Christopher was the first to lose it, lunging for Luke.

"You did this!" he bellowed, ready to wring Luke's neck. "If Rory wasn't the surrogate, this wouldn't have happened!"

Luke flung Christopher back, not wanting to fight but ready to defend himself - he recalled the one Christmas many years ago when he and Christopher had come to blows over Lorelai in the middle of the town square. It was a fight Luke had won; he could win again if it came down to it. Fortunately, Lorelai quickly got between her husband and ex-husband. "I didn't tell her to be our surrogate, Christopher. I didn't even ask, and neither did Lorelai. Rory made the decision on her own. She knew the risks."

Christopher did not look convinced. "Well, enjoy your kid," he sneered. "Just remember that you destroyed mine to get it!"

"Rory was mine too, you little shit!" Luke roared to Christopher's retreating back; Richard and Emily had stepped in to lead him away.

* * *

Weeks passed. Luke barely managed to keep up with work, then come home and look after his wife and baby Luke Jr. Or at least, look after his wife. She did most of the child care. In fact, Luke had yet to enter his son's nursery. Or do anything with him at all.

Luke's daughter, April, noticed her father's distinct change in mood, his lack of energy. And finally, one evening, she had had enough. Fetching Luke Jr. from his crib, she stalked down to the kitchen and held the baby up in front of Luke's face.

"He needs to be changed," she announced emphatically, which was actually true.

"Can't you do it?" Luke moaned.

"Your son deserves to know his father," April snarled, plopping the baby into Luke's lap. Luke flinched away.

"I can't."

"Too bad. He's your son."

"He killed my daughter! THAT THING KILLED MY DAUGHTER! I CAN'T!" Luke roared, tears pouring down his face.

"Oh, and what am I, your next-door neighbor?" April cried in indignation. "Rory was not your daughter! I AM! AND I'M STILL HERE, DADDY! I'M STILL HERE!"

"Rory was mine in ways that you will _never_ understand!" Luke countered.

"Then maybe you need to understand that I am yours, too! And so is that baby! Act accordingly!" April stormed out of the kitchen, leaving Luke with his son.

* * *

It was a cloudy, rainy day. Much like the day when she had been laid to rest. Jess sat on the riverbank at the edge of Stars Hollow, thinking about the times he and Rory would come here and discuss literature, or the future, or just be together.

He sighed. Lying a small raft made of odds and ends, and carrying Rory's picture, onto the flowing currents, he set it adrift. "She's in your hands now." Jess was not sure if there was a God, but if there, the young author hoped He was listening.

Just then, Jess saw a figure observing him through the mist in the distance. Nervous, he rose from the riverbank and took off running into the forest beyond, away from Stars Hollow. Still, Jess could feel the figure following him, cloaked in gray and black that blended in with the wet and cold of the trees.

Suddenly, Jess tripped over a root and sprawled into the dirt. The figure was closer now, almost right on top of him. "NOOOO!" He closed his eyes and braced himself.

"Jess… Jess!" The figure turned out to be none other than his Uncle Luke, who now gathered the young man up into his arms and allowed his nephew to weep into his jacket.

"It's all gone!" Jess blubbered. "I should have gone back there with you; I should have fought to go back! To be with her. To say goodbye!" He sniffled. "Luke, is Rory damned? Is she going to hell?" It had been a fear of his, that not only had Rory been taken from this life, but that she would suffer in an unclear next life.

"Oh, I don't know much about God, but I know he's not going to send that little girl to Hell," Luke soothed. Jess just continued to sob. "She brought you something special when you came here, didn't she?" Luke observed quietly, though he seemed to be speaking for the both of them and not just Jess. "That's what you've got to hold onto. That's how you keep her alive."


	5. Chapter 5: Flowers at the Grave

**Chapter 5: Flowers at the Grave**

It had been a few years since Rory's passing. One spring day, Luke and Lorelai Danes led their toddler son, Luke Danes Jr., up the hillside to the cemetery overlooking Stars Hollow. In the center stood not just a grave. It was a shrine, dedicated to the town's princess, their pride and joy, their muse. Just before the headstone, little Luke toddled forward to lay a bouquet of flowers at Rory's final resting place. The little boy quietly kissed the stone spot that bore Rory's name.

"Hi, sissy. Brovey loves you," he said quietly to his deceased sister.

Luke and Lorelai wiped tears from their eyes before taking Luke Jr.'s hands and leading him back down the hill. Someday, when he was older, they would tell him of how his sister (technically, half-sister) had also been his birth mother, had brought him into the world. And that she had sacrificed herself in doing so. And how, for that sacrifice, Rory would be honored until the end of time.


End file.
